January 22, 2017

Triple H spoke with IGN to promote WWE Studios new animated movie Surfs Up 2: WaveMania. During the interview he talks about the Royal Rumble and Kurt Angle, You can read the full article here. Highlights below:

On the Royal Rumble

This year’s Royal Rumble is one of the biggest, most star-studded Rumbles that I can recall. Just look at the people who have thrown their name into the Rumble so far. You’ve got Goldberg and Lesnar and the Undertaker. When you start to look at that level of talent and then also see the Bray Wyatts and the Randy Ortons and everyone else that’s going to be a part of it, it really is one of the biggest Rumbles I can think of. Sometimes there’s a year in the Rumble where you think “Okay, I can see this or that happening. This seems like where the Rumble might be headed.” But this year, it’s really tough to call. And I think that’s when the Rumble’s at its best, when you can’t really put your finger on what’s going to happen. I can see this year going a lot of different ways and I think it’s going to go in a way that nobody expects.

On Kurt Angle

I think it’s a very well deserved induction into the Hall of Fame. We’ve had an association with Kurt for a long time but when Kurt was here in the WWE, he was one of the most impactful and memorable and iconic characters probably ever. One of the things that always stands out for me is that I was here when Kurt was coming out of the Olympics and training. And having never done this before, he went from zero knowledge of our industry to being one of the most incredible performers in the ring in the time frame of the Attitude Era where, you know, he was in there with some of the best in the world. And he very quickly went from walking to the ring for the first time to being one of the best in the world himself. It happened faster than anyone else. And that’s what I do now mostly in my day to day job. Most of my day is focused on talent and recruiting and training and talent development. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone pick it up as fast as Kurt. Just on that basis alone, he should be inducted. But then you throw in all that he’s accomplished, that he’s accomplished since leaving WWE even, and will continue to accomplish. I’m really happy for Kurt as a human being. I’m also happy that he’s a really good place in his life right now.